


Over the Fence

by Brumeier



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Alternate Universe, Community: sga_saturday, First Meetings, Friendship, Home Improvement, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 19:40:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29441304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brumeier/pseuds/Brumeier
Summary: When Laura and Evan start work on a new house flip, Evan gets to know next-door neighbor David.
Relationships: Evan Lorne/Parrish
Comments: 8
Kudos: 27
Collections: Romancing SGA 2021, SGA Saturday Prompt Challenge





	Over the Fence

**Author's Note:**

> **Written for:**
> 
> sga_saturday: hammer  
> sga_saturday: Romancing SGA

Evan arrived at the job site on Magnolia early to take an initial walk through before the work started. It helped give him a feel for the bones of the house, and the neighborhood overall. He strapped on his toolbelt and took a stroll around the yard.

The house wasn’t in bad shape. Usually Laura bought the most rundown, ass-ugly houses for them to renovate, so that was a nice change. Evan could see some issues with the soffits, and the front porch had a discernable sag, but the roof looked good and someone at some point had replaced all the first-floor windows with double-glazed, energy-efficient versions. That would be a money saver.

The front yard was small, the side yard more of a grassed alleyway separated from the house next door by a chest-high wooden fence. The backyard was fairly big, though, and already set up with a sturdy-looking deck and a fire pit. The foundation looked okay, but Evan would have to get into the basement and take a closer look to make sure.

He used his hammer to tap on the wooden siding, which was a mixed bag of solid and dry rot. No termite damage that he could see, but that would be clearer once they had the house down to the studs.

“Good morning!”

There was a man on the other side of the fence, lanky and bundled up in a fleecy green pullover against the chill in the early morning air. The weather was still in transition between winter and spring, which meant a lot of mud in Evan’s future.

A quick glance over the fence showed a tidy, well-maintained single-story home with an unexpectedly large greenhouse in the backyard.

“Morning,” Evan replied, walking over. 

“I heard the house was finally getting a renovation. Are you part of the team?”

Evan slid his hammer back through the loop on his toolbelt. “Sure am. You know anything about the house?”

The neighbor shook his head. “Not really. I moved in about two years ago, and it was already sitting empty.”

Two years empty. Not a great sign, but someone had clearly been looking after the property because the yard wasn’t overgrown. Still, there would probably signs of animal infestations of some kind inside.

A honking truck horn announced Laura’s arrival.

“That’s the boss,” Evan said. “You have a good day.”

“You, too,” the neighbor replied.

Evan went back around the front of the house and found Laura on the front porch dressed in her work boots and pink camo overalls, leaning on a sledgehammer. The demo crew was ranged out on the lawn in front of her, hard hats and masks at the ready.

“There you are. Now we can get started.”

Laura had founded the reno company but made Evan a partner after he’d worked with her for about five years. They were both ex-military, as were the majority of the crew, and all worked well together because they were accustomed to taking orders. And Laura loved giving orders.

“There’s nothing worth saving in here, except the staircase and the downstairs windows. Anyone who damages one of those will be personally replacing it. Otherwise, you know what to do. Carl, the dumpster should be here any minute. Can you show them where to drop it?”

“I’m on it,” Carl said.

“Ready to see inside, Evvie?” Laura asked. 

While the crew started the demo, Laura gave Evan a walk-through of the house. The inside was in much worse shape than the outside. Whoever had lived it in it last had been a heavy smoker – everything was stained with nicotine – and there was a lot of animal damage. That was compounded by bad floor joists and runaway mold from an old leak.

“You really know how to pick ‘em,” Evan said.

Laura just grinned. “You know I love a challenge!”

That was something Evan knew all too well.

By midday, Evan was a mess. He had insulation, drywall dust, and who knows what else in his hair and on his clothes. His t-shirt was soaked through with sweat and he had streaks of dirt down his arms and probably on his face. Demo wasn’t glamorous.

The rest of the crew, including Laura, looked equally worse for wear. Lunchboxes and coolers were pulled out of the backs of trucks, and everyone kind of picked a clear spot on the front lawn to eat, but before they could get started the guy next door came over with a platter of sandwiches.

“They’re just turkey and swiss,” he said apologetically as he passed them around. “It’s all I had in the fridge.”

“On behalf of my crew, thank you,” Laura said, helping herself to a sandwich. “That’s really nice of you to do.”

“Well, you all are working so hard.”

Laura wiped her hand on the butt of her jeans, and held it out. “Laura Cadman.”

“David Parrish.” He gamely shook her hand even though it was still pretty dirty. “I live next door.”

“This is very nice, Mr. Parrish, but don’t feel you need to keep us fed. My crew isn’t going to starve.”

That was met by a round of boos and catcalls, which made David blush. If Evan wasn’t so tired, he might have found that really endearing.

“I don’t mind. Honestly.”

He made his way around to Evan, who quickly used water from his insulated mug to wash the crud off his hands before taking a sandwich.

“Thanks,” he said. 

David ducked his head. “You’re welcome.”

“Hey!” Jenny called out. “There’s Dijon on this! Can we hire him as our caterer?”

“Not in the budget!” several voiced called back, prompting everyone to break out laughing.

It was a nice change to have the neighbor being pleasant, instead of complaining about the noise and the traffic congestion caused by having so many extra vehicles parking on the street.

Evan was pretty sure it was the best turkey sandwich he’d ever eaten.

*o*o*o*

Evan rolled up to the project house on Magnolia early. He had a laundry list of things to tackle with the crew, since Laura wouldn’t be on site. She was looking at some new properties, plus staging one of the houses they’d just finished to get it ready for showing.

Coincidentally, David was on his side of the fence again despite the early hour.

“Good morning!” he called out. 

“You’re an earlier riser,” Evan said, strolling over to the fence.

“More hours in the day to get things done,” David replied with a lopsided shrug. “I just made coffee, if you’d like some.”

“I’ve got a thermos full in the truck. Thanks, though.” Evan inclined his head at David’s backyard. “That’s a big greenhouse.”

David visibly brightened. “That’s where I spend most of my day, to be honest. I’m a botanist. I’m cultivating and studying a particular plant species that could have groundbreaking medical applications.”

“Wow,” Evan said, honestly impressed. “That sounds like important work.”

“The natural world is amazing.” David really blossomed as he talked about his work. “Plants, flowers, trees – they give us everything we need to live. Food, water, shelter, medicines. Even in the most inhospitable places on Earth, you can find something growing.”

David wasn’t the kind of guy Evan was usually attracted to, but his open smile and the color on his cheeks were definitely worth a second look. Unfortunately, the crew was rolling in and it was time to get to work. Evan bid David farewell and went back around to the front of the house.

“Okay, here’s what the boss lady wants us to get done today,” he said, addressing the troops. “We need to repair the damaged floor joists and make sure all the footers are in good shape. Then we can get the new framing done. The header Laura wants to put in will be delivered around nine. So we need to get busy.”

“Is the nice neighbor bringing food again?” Jenny asked.

“The nice neighbor has better things to do than feed you,” Evan replied. “Let’s get to work!”

By the end of the workday, the floor joists had been replaced, and all the new framing had been done. The header went in, which would open up the public areas on the main floor. Evan kept Laura posted with photos snapped on his phone at various points throughout the day.

He was pleased with the steady progress they were making. Evan would meet with Laura the next day to go over the floor plans again before the trades came in to reroute plumbing and update the electric.

As usual, Evan was the first one in and the last one out. He made sure the house was secure – they’d learned their lesson the hard way, when someone had stolen all the copper piping and building supplies on one of their earlier jobs – and headed wearily for his truck.

“Hey, there! Hi!” David waved from his front porch and came trotting over to the fence with a round Tupperware container in his hands. “I’m glad I caught you!”

He passed the dish over to Evan, who took a peek inside.

“Is this a quiche?”

“I know it’s a joke, about real men and quiche, but it’s really the only thing I can make that comes out good every time. And I figured you’d be tired from working all day, so now you don’t have to cook. You know. If you like quiche.”

Evan couldn’t help grinning. David seemed like a genuinely nice guy.

“Thanks. This looks great.”

“Good. That’s good. Well…Have a nice night.”

“You, too.”

Evan watched David walk back into his house and wondered if baking someone a quiche counted as flirting.

*o*o*o*

Things were busy at the Magnolia Street house. Laura and Evan did a walk-through with orange paint, marking out the layouts that involved plumbing and electric, so the trades could come in and do their thing. Back at the office, they went through the finishes Laura had picked out, debating the various merits of each in regard to cost versus durability versus aesthetic.

Evan thought it was harder, outfitting a house that didn’t have a specific buyer. There was only so far they could go from a design standpoint, because the house would have to appeal to a range of potential buyers. That meant a lot of neutrals, and Evan was definitely a color guy.

Finishes were ordered, new windows and doors were installed, siding started going up outside, and drywall went up inside. It was a very busy time, especially since Evan had taken on the job of custom built-ins for the living room, but he had time enough to notice that David hadn’t been home for a few days.

“Missing your boyfriend?” Laura teased.

Evan rolled his eyes. “This isn’t a gay romance. I just miss the food.”

That was a lie, though. Evan missed David’s cheery smile over the fence, and his thoughtfulness not only for Evan but also for the crew who had benefitted from freshly made iced tea and hot coffee and boxes of donuts.

The day they put the floors in, Evan caught sight of a woman next door, coming out of the greenhouse. He made a beeline for the fence.

“Hi. Excuse me?”

The woman, red hair gleaming in the midday sun, approached the fence cautiously. “Hi?”

Now that he had her attention, Evan wasn’t sure what to do with it. Was it really any of his business where David was? They didn’t really know each other.

“Oh!” the woman said, brightening. “You must be the contractor David’s been talking about!”

Well, that was embarrassing. “I was noticing he hasn’t been around,” Evan said.

“He didn’t tell you? He’s giving a series of lectures at UC Berkeley. They love him there. I told him I’d take care of his plants while he’s gone. I’m Katie.”

She held out her hand over the fence and Evan held up his dirty hands in apology for not shaking it.

“I’m Evan.”

“It’s nice to finally meet you, Evan,” Katie said with a grin. “David will be back tomorrow night.”

“Hey, boss man!” Carl called from a second-floor window. “We could use your expertise up here!”

“On my way!” Evan yelled back. “It was nice meeting you, Katie.”

“You, too. The house looks great, by the way.”

“Thanks.”

Evan got back to work and wondered if it would be weird to bake something to welcome David back home.

*o*o*o*

Rain was coming down in buckets, which meant a delay in working on the outside of the house. The painters for the interior of the house were scheduled to do their thing, though, so Evan was on site to make sure everything ran smoothly. If one of the wall colors got messed up, Laura would have a fit and fall right in it. He’d seen that happen more than once.

Evan didn’t think he’d see David, but there he was, standing by the fence wearing a green rain slicker with the hood pulled up.

“Good morning!” he called out. “Isn’t this weather amazing?”

“That’s not the word I’d use,” Evan replied. In deference to the rain, he was wearing his waterproof brown Carhartt and a ball cap. “Can’t paint a house in the rain.”

“I suppose not. Do you want to come up on the porch? Get out of the rain for a minute?”

Evan had never been on the other side of the fence. He checked his watch.

“I have a few minutes I can spare,” he said.

The porch on David’s house wrapped around from the front to the side that faced the fence. It was deep enough to accommodate an outdoor dining table and several Adirondack chairs. Evan didn’t sit. He didn’t want to get too comfortable.

“Thanks for the pastries,” David said, shaking the rainwater from the arms of his coat. “That was a nice surprise.”

Evan had left them on the porch for David to find when he got back from California. 

“You’ve done lot for the crew. I just wanted to thank you.”

“Well, they were delicious. Whatever it was, it’s the best I’ve ever had.”

“Can’t go wrong with my grandma’s chouquette recipe.” Evan had certainly eaten his fair share of them during the baking process. “She only made them for holidays, but I like to make them about once a month.”

David stared at him. “You _made_ them?”

“I like to bake,” Evan said with a shrug. 

Laura and the crew liked to tease him about it, but they had nothing but appreciation for his baking skills when he treated them to homemade cinnamon buns or eclairs. Even though making pastry dough could be challenging and time consuming, Evan found it relaxing. And it reminded him of baking with Gram in the communal kitchen.

“Not to be presumptuous,” David said.

Evan held his breath.

“But I’d be happy to help when you get to the landscaping. Consulting, or planting. Anything, really. Free of charge, of course.”

Evan let out a disappointed sigh. “That would be great. I’ll let Laura know.”

He was getting too invested. Just because David was nice didn’t mean he was interested in Evan. He checked his watch.

“I better get over to the house so I can let the painters in.”

“Oh. Right. Well, thanks again. For the show…shoe…”

“Chouquettes,” Evan provided.

“Yes. Those. I really liked them.”

“No problem. Have a good day.” 

Evan adjusted his cap and head back out into the deluge. There was a cold edge to the rain that suggested it might turn into sleet if the temperature dropped another couple degrees.

“Perfect,” he grumbled to himself.

*o*o*o*

Any hope Evan had of distancing himself from David, for his own peace of mind, were dashed when Laura decided to take David up on his offer and sent him with Evan to the local nursery to pick out plants and trees for the Magnolia house.

“A crepe myrtle would be nice by the front the porch,” David said. “Even when it’s not flowering, it has really cool bark. And it won’t grow too big, so you don’t have to worry about roots getting into the foundation.”

Evan trailed after him, pushing the cart that was holding their steadily increasing selection of green and growing things.

“Sounds good to me.”

“Oh, and some boxwood to add a little depth along the porch. It’s low-maintenance and resistant to disease and insects. Even the deer don’t like it.”

There was no denying David had an eye for landscaping. Curb appeal could make or break the sale of a house, and the way they were going, the Magnolia house was going to be snapped up as soon as it went on the market.

The hard part would be sticking to the budget Laura had given them.

“How’d you get into plants?” Evan asked as David put several boxwood shrubs on the cart.

“The neighborhood I grew up in didn’t have any kids my age, so I spent most of my time hanging out with adults,” David explained. “The lady at the end of my block had amazing gardens, front and back, and she’d let me help her maintain them. It was a hobby for her. For me, it was a chance to get away from my parents for a while.”

Evan knew all about escaping. He’d done the same thing, going against his mother’s wishes (and her deep-seated fears) and joining the Air Force as a way to try and find a connection to the father he didn’t remember. 

“So weeding your neighbor’s garden turned into a career, and now you’re making life-changing discoveries?”

David laughed. “Something like that. How about you? Were you always into construction?”

“I was a pilot in the Air Force, actually. When I got out, I was looking for work, and met Laura through a friend of a friend. She’s a Marine, and most of the crew are vets.”

Evan didn’t talk about the commune, where he’d learned his wood-working skills doing repairs and building homes and barns. Sometimes people mistook ‘commune’ for ‘cult’, and that wasn’t a conversation he wanted to get into while he was buying plants.

“You’re changing lives too,” David said. “You bring life back to neglected houses and give families a chance to make memories there. That’s pretty amazing.”

“Laura likes to say we’re revitalizing neighborhoods, one house at a time.”

“She’s right.” David favored Evan with another one of those open, happy smiles, and Evan was pretty sure he was doomed. “Oh, hey, what do you think about doing a hanging garden on the fence? That would add some interest to the side yard, where it’s so narrow.”

“Lead on,” Evan said.

He was looking forward to finishing up work on the house and dreading it at the same time. In the months since he’d started, he’d gotten used to seeing David and chatting with him. Soon there’d be a new house in another part of town, and all of Evan’s time would be wrapped up in it.

Would it really be so bad to enjoy the time he had left?

*o*o*o*

“My knees are killing me,” Evan complained.

“Tiling is hard, boohoo. Pass me another one.”

Evan and Laura were tiling the master bathroom. Decorative cement tiles for the floor, herringbone subway tiles in the shower surround. It was the last bit of tiling left to do in the house. Trim work was being done elsewhere, and the kitchen cabinets were almost fully installed. Another couple of days and it would be time for staging and an open house.

The house was finally starting to look like a home.

“So, are you going to make a move on botany boy or what?” Laura asked.

“I don’t think he’s interested,” Evan replied, trying to sound like he didn’t care.

Laura made a disgruntled sound. “For a smart guy, you can be pretty dense sometimes.”

“This is turning into a hostile workplace.”

“Shut up and listen.” Laura shook a tile fragment at Evan. “We’ve all seen the way he looks at you. And you trot over to that fence like a little puppy every time he’s on the other side of it. He obviously finds you attractive, for reasons that escape me because you’re such a huge goofball. You should take a chance.”

“And if he says no?”

“What if he does? He’d probably be nice about it. And it’s not like he’s _your_ neighbor. You don’t have to see him again if you don’t want to.”

Evan placed another tile and stuck in a couple of plastic spacers. “I don’t know.”

“Or you could be single forever. I really don’t give a crap.”

That was obviously a lie, or Laura wouldn’t have brought up David to start with. She was like a second pain-in-the-ass sister who had his best interests at heart. And she was right, which only made her more annoying. Evan really didn’t have anything to lose by asking David out. It would be a hit to his self-esteem, sure, but he’d get over it.

“Tell you what,” Laura said. “If you ask David out and he says no, I can start fixing you up on blind dates again.”

Evan grimaced. “There’s a fate worse than death.”

“You’re too picky.”

“You set me up with a guy who called himself Naked Ed.”

Laura snorted. “I thought that meant he was vulnerable and in touch with his feelings.”

Evan threw a spacer at her, and it bounced off her forehead. “Lies! Do you know how awkward it is to throw a dinner party when one of the guests is fully naked?”

“So partial nudity is fine? The ways of your people are strange and mysterious.” Laura wiggled her fingers at him, and Evan couldn’t help but laugh.

“You’re ridiculous.”

“That’s why you love me.”

“Shut up and tile.”

*o*o*o*

“This is beautiful!”

They hadn’t made it past the foyer of the Magnolia Street house, but David already had an awestruck expression on his face. Evan had invited him for a tour, ahead of the open house on the weekend.

“It’s Laura’s vision,” Evan said. “I just help make it a reality.”

He was proud of the work they’d done. The house was solid and secure, all the problem areas fixed. Plumbing, electric, and HVAC was new. They’d made the house as energy efficient as possible, and Laura had staged it with furniture and décor to give potential buyers an idea of how to use the space. 

“It’s amazing,” David said. “From right here I can see all the way to the back of the house.”

Evan nodded. “Open concept is really hot right now. It has it’s good and bad points, like everything else. Families and people who like to entertain like that everyone can be in the same space together.”

He showed David the room to the left of the entrance, which could be used as an additional bedroom, or an office, but was currently set up as a cozy den where a family could watch a movie together.

“But this is more my speed. A little cocoon of space.”

“This would be a great reading room,” David said approvingly.

He had nothing but positive things to say about every room in the house, which was always gratifying to hear. Hopefully potential buyers would feel the same.

“You know,” David said when they would up back in the living room, “this house has been an eyesore in the neighborhood as long as I’ve lived here. You and Laura did a really good thing, giving it new life. Like trimming back a rose bush to promote new, healthy growth.”

Evan looked at David standing there, sincere and earnest, and knew the moment was finally on him. Either he took a risk, or he backed down and let David get back to his greenhouse and his medical breakthroughs.

He took a breath and mentally planted his feet. “David. I wanted to ask –”

“Yes!” David interrupted, face flushed.

Evan couldn’t help laughing. “You don’t know what I was going to ask.”

“Hopefully you were going to ask me out. It’s okay if you weren’t, but I want you to know I’m totally receptive to that. And not just because you look really, _really_ good in a toolbelt.”

“I was, actually. Going to ask you out.”

David grinned. “Then my answer is still yes.”

Evan couldn’t help smiling himself, flooded with relief. And not just because he didn’t have another string of Naked Eds in his future.

“I’d like to invite you over for dinner tonight,” he said. “Do you like Italian?”

“I do. And I’ll bring the salad.” David glanced out the window, in the direction of his house next door. “Now that you’ve shown me yours, I’d love to show you mine.”

“Um…”

David’s eyes widened comically. “No, no, no! I didn’t mean it that way! I just meant…I’d like to show you the greenhouse.”

“In that case, I’d love to.”

Evan locked up the Magnolia Street house for the last time and walked with David back to his house. From now on he’d be on the other side of the fence, and he couldn’t wait to see how that turned out.

**Author's Note:**

>  **AN:** The hammer prompt came at just the right time. I treated myself to the Discovery+ channel recently and have been bingeing on home reno shows because I love them. _Property Brothers_ , _Good Bones_ , _Fixer to Fabulous_ , _Fixer Upper_ , and _Hometown_ to name a few.
> 
> Originally I was going to have Evan working on David’s house, but I’ve kinda been there and done that for McShep. Then I figured these boys would see more of each other if David was the neighbor next door. So this is what happened. ::grins::


End file.
